When to start super cropping / topping clones

[Elhavik]

Hey everyone, I've been browsing the web for a couple hours now, reading about super cropping / topping, and my question is, how soon can you super crop a clone?
Would it be a good idea to start with smaller (around 6-8" clones) or wait?

The idea would be to make this a mother plant BTW (24 hr t5 veg)

Thanks for all the input in advance!

 

[LivenBurn]

I wondered this also.. i think a little depends on how mature the clone is, but I top/fim 1 week after rooting & supercrop/LST @ around 2.5' out of the pot-- to shape how i want the plant to grow out n finish... basically to even out the canopy.

u get better bends out of longer limbs... IMHO. I'd w8 till about 12"-18" out of the pot

 

[Elhavik]

Very good to know, so if the clones are rooted then one could essentially begin topping?
As far as maturity, not sure, the clones would be around 7" average.
The goal would be to make these into 2' - 3' bushy mothers that could have quite a few cuttings taken at a time, eventually.

 

[LivenBurn]

it might take a little longer to reach that 2'-3' on ur mothers if taking a lot of cuts... especially if u start/keep taking em' as soon as u can-- but you'll have lots of clones..

faster f u grow it 2 the height u'd like, then cut-- I'm pretty sure on a 3' plant there r multiple cloning opportunities PER branch! On average i take 2 clones per branch... YMMV

 

[Alkhemist]

howdy all,

i personally top clones when they have atleast 3-4 laterals established, the height of the plant as it reaches this tier will vary depending on strain. you'll usually see the lower tiers reach up to catch the main leader which was just cropped... i find when they get to this stage i take out the tips of the lower lats and allow the main leaders to stretch out again.
i sometimes take my first cutting when i take my first top from the main leader, i usually just pinch out the small new node(back to a new node/tip) from the top to begin super cropping but then found i could kill two birds with one stone and wait a little longer- take the cutting from the very top and set the first branch up to split into a multi leader... but this also depends on how big you want to vegetate them for too..

you know, if you want a mother you ideally want the biggest, baddest, juiciest plant of the lot(=dominant female) and make that the mother.. that can take time to determine.. but good things certainly take a little time
ive kept mothers myself for upto 2 years before, i am sure there are others who have kept them for longer! mine stayed at around a max height of 5foot(including height of 30 litre bucket), i just kept cutting them back and back- always to new nodes/shoots, i had 3 primary mothers and in their prime i was chucking out around 50 clones every week, they were multi leaders with around 30-40 branches each, they ended up looking like large shrubs at times but this was when i was doing perpetual/continuous semi-commercial grows harvesting around 4.5-7 pounds every 2 weeks.. they performed remarkably well and recovered fast.

all the best with your cropping!

 

[Elhavik]

Thats what I was thinking, so no trimming or cropping until you reach a desired height? What about LST before you start super cropping?

Thanks for the input liv!

 

[Elhavik]

4.5-7 sounds very appealing, but im unsure that One could handle that! Lol

The goal I'm assuming in this particular case is very similar however, just in a much smaller scale. The intention should be to harvest every two weeks once cycle is established.

So if I'm aiming to take about 20 clones x week, based on your experience, how tall should this plant be?

Thanks for your input alkhemist!

 

[LivenBurn]

Gotta love it when experience blows by n sprinkles a lil fruity knowledge around... i only spit general observations from what i got... n i lernt alot n 3 mos. Fer sure enuff to say these plants r capable of some dynamic shit... truth.